The Tyler's Place Podcast

From the Master of Kadosh (May, 2015)

Greetings!

May this be a good month! We have conferred our Degrees and our reunion is almost over. And we had an ice cream social with the Rainbow Girls!! Again I say the we have reason to be proud of our Valley for doing so many of the degrees and doing good ritual work. We’ll be conferring the 32nd Degree on Tuesday, May 5th. I trust all of you will plan to be there.

For a bit of “May” Masonic history/trivia, on May 1st, 1865, President-to-be William McKinley was initiated in Hiram Lodge No. 21 in Winchester, VA. On May 5th, 1851, President-to-be Andrew Johnson was initiated in Greenville Lodge No. 119 in Tennessee. On May 12 th, 1932, the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, in Alexandria, Virginia, was dedicated in a very large ceremony, attended by thousands, including the President of the United States. On May 24th, 1901 Sir Winston Churchill was initiated in Studholme Lodge No. 1591 in London. And of real significance to us, on May 31st, 1801, the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, "Mother Council of the World," was established, in Charleston, South Carolina. Obviously there are other Masonic events of note that have happened in May, but this is a few. Hopefully, you find them of interest.

As I’ve told you before, our Scottish Rite bodies make a difference, and it starts with each of us as individuals. Please consider the following:

Growing Good Corn

There once was a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon.

One year a reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors.

"How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked.

"Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn."

He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves.

So it is with our lives. Those who choose to live in peace must help their neighbors to live in peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.

The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn.

Lewis Carol once said, “One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others.” We should always “be there” for each other when the need arises. See you on Tuesday night!